Nicholas Diak, Fanbase Press Contributor

Tales of the Lost: Volume 1 – We all Lose Something! is a themed-anthology from Things in the Well publishing which has established itself as a publisher of such focused short story collections. As the name implies, the theme from Tales of the Lost is the concept of lost things, interpreted by the anthology’s sixteen contributors in a variety of ways. This also means that the majority of stories in Tales of the Lost will lean toward the tragic and solemn side. As with watching Requiem for a Dream or Grave of the Fireflies, the craftsmanship and narratives of the stories within are well executed, but the subject matter can be quite difficult to negotiate emotionally. Sometimes, characters in the stories are seemingly punished for having lost something in their lives, even when circumstances are outside their control.

The third and final issue of Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon sees Nah-Ee-Lah finally reaching the surface of Vah-nah (the interior of Earth’s Moon) and encountering a friendly tribe of primate-like beings called the Aa-Gas. The Aa-Gas listen to Nah-Ee-Lah’s plight against the nefarious Kalkars, savage human barbarians. The Kalkars continue to torture Nah-Ee-Lah’s protector, Pal-Dan, in the hopes of learning of her whereabouts in order for them to conquer her hidden kingdom of Laythe. The Aa-Gas agree to help Nah-Ee-Lah, and, together, they assault the Kalkars, hoping to vanquish them once and for all.

After escaping her prison cell at the hands of the Kalkars, Nah-Ee-Lah (the titular Moon Maid) finds herself in the underwater caverns below a ruined city, attacked by flying imps. She escapes the aerial nuisance and swims through the caverns, resurfacing at an underground hidden city. About to be taken captive again, Nah-Ee-Lah earns the trust of the city’s mutants by fending off a giant tentacled leviathan. The mutants take Nah-Ee-Lah to heir Queen, who regales the history of the ruined city above, how it was once prosperous and peaceful, yet the ancestors of the Kalkars started a revolution and slaughtered to city’s denizens. The nonviolent populace retreated underground and started a new life, and over the generations became mutated. Hearing of their barbaric ways, Nah-Ee-Lah resolves to return to the surface, rescue her still-captive protector Pal-Dan, and fight the Kalkar menace.

“Fundamental Comics,” a monthly editorial series that introduces readers to comics, graphic novels, and manga that have been impactful to the sequential art medium and the comic book industry on a foundational level. Each month, a new essay will examine a familiar or less-known title through an in-depth analysis, exploring the history of the title, significant themes, and context for the title’s popularity since it was first released.

Over the past four decades, there have been hundreds of non-fiction books written about all aspects of Star Wars: making-of stories, behind-the-scenes accounts, scholarly analyses, picture books, encyclopedias, biographies, and so on. While this gives the impression that everything that could possibly be said about Star Wars has been said, there’s always a new text that shines a new light or perspective on the beloved franchise.

Weird Tales is a legendary magazine whose roots go back to the 1920s and served as the proving grounds of many influential horror and weird authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, and Frank Belknap Long. The periodical has exchanged hands and creative editors over the last 100 years, with many long spells of inactivity peppered throughout. The newest issue of Weird Tales, number 363, is the first issue in five years and sees prolific speculative fiction author Jonathan Maberry at the editorial director’s helm.

The Restoration is the first part of a three-part limited neo-peplum comic book series called Polis: The Trail of Socrates. The story of The Restoration takes place immediately after the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE, the same time and setting as the video game, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey) in which Athens was defeated by Sparta and the city was ruled for a mere eight months by the Thirty Tyrants. Though brief, the corrupt Thirty Tyrants rained violence on the citizens of Athens and confiscated much of their riches, which in turn fueled a rebellion which brought about their downfall.

The People’s Republic of Everything is the most recent short story collection from auteur author Nick Mamatas. Containing fourteen short stories and one novella, People’s Republic strays away from clear-cut genre definitions (unlike Mamatas’ prior collection, The Nickronomicon, which focused on Lovecraftian and cosmic horror) and instead veers into general speculative fiction. While the stories within People’s Republic may not be uniform in tone, setting, or style, they are all unified in conveying Mamatas’ left-aligned politics. While overtly political, People’s Republic is never preachy; its politics are seamlessly integrated into the stories, which range from the comedic to the tragic, from steampunk to folkish.

Issue four of Berserker Unbound concludes Lemire and Deodato’s sword and sorcery mini epic by going full circle and returning to the bloody action and world hopping found in the first issue. This issue sees the Berserker’s arch nemesis, the Demon King, emerge from a portal with an army of other barbarian warriors in tow. One by one, the previously injured Berserker picks off the barbarians in the forest outside the metropolis until finally confronting the Demon King himself. Berserker’s transient friend Cobb becomes an unwitting hostage; however, Cobb, the Demon King, and his magic are not from the same world, so perhaps Cobb isn’t the helpless hostage as he appears to be…

Sabbath is the newest novel from Nick Mamatas, author of I Am Providence, Bullettime, and The People’s Republic of Everything collection. At its heart, Sabbath is a neo-peplum story in the sword and sorcery vein, but a delight to genre fans as it takes on a cinematic quality, borrowing elements from fare such as Highlander, Terminator, Army of Darkness, Warlock, Beastmaster 2, and even 8 Heads in a Dufflebag.